Fri October 19, 2012

Record-Breaking Bratwurst Story Has A Twist

We'd like to take a moment now to recognize greatness. Earlier this month in a grocery store parking lot in Prescott, Wisconsin, the world's largest bratwurst was cooked.

PATRICK PTACEK: Fifty-two feet and two inches.

(APPLAUSE)

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The brat was grilled in honor of the 100th anniversary of Ptacek's IGA. Patrick Ptacek co-owns the store. He and his family paid for the massive brat and made it in the store.

SIEGEL: Actually, we should say brats. They made two.

PTACEK: Just in case a pterodactyl comes out of the sky and just snatches it off the grill somehow. You know, I know it's not real possible, but weren't going to not break the record that day.

SIEGEL: Now, seriously, what's more impressive than a record-breaking brat?

BLOCK: Well, the bun. Baking it required trial runs, taking over an industrial bakery and a semi-truck to move it.

SIEGEL: In fact, the Ptacek's brat was really about 60 feet long.

PTACEK: We were limited to a 52-feet, two inches because that's the size of the semi, so it showed up and it only had one thing, and it's a big old brat bun.

BLOCK: And now, the brat is recognized by a group called the World Record Academy as the world's longest.

SIEGEL: The World Record Academy, really?

BLOCK: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

SIEGEL: Now, this brat story actually comes with a twist. On the same day, about 80 miles away in Dallas, Wisconsin, another big brat was being grilled more than twice as long as Ptacek's brat.

ANN LEE: So the brat that they cooked this year was 135 feet.

BLOCK: That's Ann Lee, co-owner of Valkyrie Brewing Company. You won't find Lee's brat in the record book because she didn't want to pay the $1,900 fee to certify it. So the record goes to Prescott and bragging rights go to Dallas.

LEE: I don't brag.

(LAUGHTER)

LEE: But that's me. I will simply say that I - we have a very, very long brat.

SIEGEL: Correction, had. All brats were eaten, though their legends live on.

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BLOCK: This is NPR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.